Saturday, May 10

Tanuj Leads at National Elementary Championships

First grader Tanuj Vasudeva leads a small delegation of CalChess members attending the Bert Lerner National Elementary Championships this weekend. The biggest annual USCF rated tournament in the country drew 2100 players and an even larger number of parents and coaches to Pittsburgh. The competitors range from unrateds to about a dozen class A players and even one expert, all in kindergarten through 6th grades.

After four rounds, Tanuj maintains a perfect score in the K-1 division. Rated 1545 after recent tournaments, he is by far the top seed in his section--although I'm not sure that ratings really mean much among players so young. Kyle Shin has 3.5 in the K-5 section. Three more local kids have 3.0 out of 4: Alisha Chawla (K-1), Allan Beilin (K-3) and Armaan Kalyanpur (K-3). Good luck to all of our local representatives!

Update on Sunday night: Tanuj won tonight and still leads with 5.0/5 in the K-1 section. Likewise, Kyle won and, thanks to draws on all of the top boards, he now shares first place with ten other players at 4.5/5 in the K-5 section. Unfortunately, Armaan drew while Allan and Alisha both lost, all to much lower rated opponents. This tournament is proving to be quite a challenge for these young kids. Good luck to all in Sunday's final two rounds!

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About the Blog

Check here for tournament reports and the latest chess news from Michael "fpawn" Aigner. Find out where fpawn has played recently. Emphasis on:1. fpawn's students and friends,2. Northern California chess events,3. national or international chess news (especially involving local players).Say hi when you surf in, but please keep comments clean and sign your name.

Who Is Fpawn

Mr. Aigner remains an active chess tournament player, coach and community supporter in Northern California. He refuses to surrender to little munchkins trying to eat his rating points. He firmly believes that chess teachers should practice what they preach, even if that means competing head-to-head against students and their peers. In that spirit, he aspires to reaching 2300 again after several years at or near the 2200 floor.